What did Kobe mean to you?
With the tragic events that took place last Sunday to Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others, I wanted to pay tribute to one of the greatest athletes of all time and what he meant to the world. How did Kobe change your life? Did he inspire you to be great? Was he able to help you achieve something wonderful? Kobe was J-Mac’s idol while growing up, to the point where he would often sign his name Jason “Kobe” McElwain. In the #CJJblog this week, I give you some of his attributes that I feel helped him become al all-time legend.
- Learn from mistakes. It is well-documented what transpired in 2003 with the sexual assault case against Kobe, but I feel this allowed him to demonstrate the tremendous ability to bounce back from adversity. He made a mistake, but proceeded to thrive at his craft.
- Kobe always strived to be the best that he could be at whatever he did. He made it a point to out-work everyone else and his drive to be great ultimately paid off for his basketball career.
- Complete player. Oftentimes, many of the greats are only great on the offensive end of the floor. Not so much the case with Kobe, as he was a 9-time first team All-NBA selection. He took pride in being successful on offense as well as defense. Are you a complete player?
- Great father. Arguably, the greatest tragedy here was that the next phase of his life (fatherhood) was cut short. He had four daughters and was doing a great job at being there for them. Do your children know how much you care for them?
- Support of both sexes. Kobe was obviously very involved with the NBA, but he also made it known how important the WNBA development was as well. Being born and raised in Europe for most of his childhood, he was also very involved with the Olympics.
- He had tremendous compassion for others. I’m sure we’ve all heard the stories over the last week or so about how he would reach out to other people (not just athletes) to offer support and motivation to bounce back from a tough situation.
- Ambassador of basketball. Kobe was a tremendous ambassador of the game of basketball, both in the United States and internationally. He was responsible for getting millions of people interested in the sport, which speaks to his ability to brand himself as a leader.
Did You Know? J-Mac met him at the 2006 ESPYs as Kobe was one of the other finalists (81-point game) for “Greatest Sports moment” of 2006. Check out an article in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle HERE.
Life Tip #2: Tell people you love and care about them every day
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